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McCain/Huckabee vs. Romney

Last night we received a thoughtful email from longtime reader, Matt Perkins. In it, he asked, “why is [there] so much bitterness and rancor aimed at Romney from the McCain & Huckabee camps?” It’s a good question. And we’re not sure we know the answer.

This morning, we watched Huckabee supporter, big smile sporter, and all around conservative bad-A, Chuck Norris on one of the network talk shows. Asked about his man Mike Huckabee and the results of Super Tuesday, Norris said that if Huckabee had $40M of his own money to spend, he would be the Republican frontrunner.

So is plain old class warfare and jealousy of Romney’s personal wealth prompting the rancor between the Huckabee and Romney camps? Maybe.

Huckabee is the one who famously referred to Romney as the “guy who fired them (average joe).” This kind of rhetoric mirrors the talking points of the left. But what do we draw from this? Maybe Huckabee really is the populist and less the conservative that Romney’s ads have indicated.

Romney’s largesse has permitted him to produce and run ads which criticize both John McCain and Mike Huckabee. We’ve watched these ads. Sure, they’re hard hitting. But they don’t seem dishonest. They certainly haven’t been personal–certainly not personal in the way that Huckabee’s use of Romney’s Mormonism was personal.

Unlike Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, Mitt Romney didn’t have national name recognition. Unlike Mike Huckabee, Romney didn’t have a ready-made group of Evangelical voters. Mormons don’t have nearly the numbers. At least, not outside of Utah. What Romney did have was money. And he did what unknown candidates have always done–run ads attacking the other candidates.

Huckabee’s recent combination with McCain can be explained by self interest. He knows he has zero chance of being the Republican nominee, but if he helps McCain knock off Romney, he could very well end up as McCain’s running mate.

We recently concluded an interview with former RNC Communications Director and current GOP consultant, Brian Jones. Thanks to Mr. Jones for being so gracious. Stay tuned for a post with all the good stuff.

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